Russia, China veto US resolution on Gaza truce

Russia and China on Friday vetoed a United States proposed United Nations resolution supporting “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Eleven council members voted for the resolution on Friday morning; Russia, China and Algeria voted against it and Guyana abstained. As permanent security council members the Russian and Chinese votes counted as vetoes.

Before the vote, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supports an immediate ceasefire, but he criticised the diluted language, which he called philosophical wording that does not belong in a UN resolution.

He accused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of “deliberately misleading the international community.”

China’s UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said the US proposal set preconditions and fell far short of expectations of council members and the broader international community.

"If the US was serious about a ceasefire, it wouldn’t have vetoed time and again multiple council resolutions,” he said.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said it would be a "historic mistake" for the council not to adopt the resolution.

After the vote, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia and China had opposed the resolution because they could not bring themselves to support the clauses in it condemning Hamas.

“Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States because they would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed,‍”she said.

Since the Israel-Hamas war started on 7 October, which has killed more than 32,000 people.